Monday, April 24, 2017

I have a huge sweet tooth if you haven't already noticed. I am not a huge fan of pizza or fries, but give me all the brownies, cookies, & doughnuts!

Growing up, I loved helping bake cookies. One of my favorite parts was getting to lick the cookie dough off the beaters. It's funny how simple things in life can bring back such great memories. I decided to create a healthier cookie dough that could easily fit into my macro budget for the day.

*Please note, you can substitute different butter, protein, & yogurt for the recipe, but keep in mind it may change the macros for the recipe*

Directions:

Combine yogurt, butter, & sugar in a bowl. Mix until combined. Next add pudding mix, whole wheat flour, coconut flour, & protein powder. Mix until combined. Add almond milk to the batter until your desired consistency. I made mine a consistency that allowed me to roll the dough into balls so I could keep track of a serving. Lastly, add chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I love to create and bake on the weekends, and of course I am always craving cookies. These protein cookies turnout so similar to the consistency and texture of normal cookies (which is sometimes hard to do with healthy cookies). I ate half of this cookie before my workout this morning. Okay, now you probably want the recipe so here it is...

Ingredients:

28 g Challenge Butter (lactose free)

10 g Brown Sugar Splenda

17 g Good Karma Flax Yogurt, plain

1 egg white

10 g old fashion rolled oats

20 g whole wheat flour

10 g Anthony's Goods Coconut Flour

1/2-1 tsp sugar free, fat free instant vanilla pudding mix

1/4 tsp baking powder

Frosting:

30 g Quest Cinnamon Crunch Protein Powder

water

Directions:

In a bowl, combine butter, yogurt, and sugar. Mix until combined. Next add in egg white and pudding mix. Stir until combined. Then add in the oats, wheat flour, coconut flour, and baking powder. Mix until a dough forms. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay foil on a baking sheet and spray with oil. Scoop the batter onto the baking sheet in 4 rounded cookies. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until the cookies are cooked through and starting to turn golden on top. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes while you make the frosting. In a bowl, add the protein powder. Add 1 tsp. of water and stir. Keep adding water a little bit at a time until a frosting consistency forms. Next, top the cookies with the frosting.

*Feel free to substitute with different butters or yogurts, just note it may change the macros on the recipe*

Here are some tips for baking when you are tracking macros:

1) Get a food scale. I bough mine off of Amazon for about $13 dollars. This will make your measurements more precise (that's why the ingredients are in grams)

2) If you create a recipe, write down the ingredients & then enter them as a recipe in Myfitnesspal and you can easily add the serving to your daily food log & macro budget.

3) HAVE FUN! Macro budgeting is like a puzzle. I love playing around with different food choices until I reach my daily macro allowance.

4) If you are creating recipes while using macros, you may need to use artificial sweeteners to keep the carbs lower. This is not a bad thing, anything in moderation is fine! If you want to know the science behind artificial sweeteners & how your body processes them, you can watch Dr. Layne Norton's video in the Avatar Nutrition Video Resources. Basically he says consuming small amounts of artificial sweeteners will not kill you!

5) Share your recipe with others!

As always, if you make my recipe tag me in your creation photo @toriswholelife #thesweetlife

Instagram: @toriswholelife

Facebook: The Sweet Life Diary of a Health Nut @toriswholelife

Also, I created a Facebook page where I post the links to my blog posts. I will be running a giveaway on that page, so head over and Like/follow the page so that you have a chance to win! I will also be running a giveaway on my Instagram, so head over there & follow!

Thursday, April 20, 2017

I don't know about you, but during the holidays my family loves to make buckeyes. These peanut butter and chocolate candies are one of my favorite treats. Let's be honest, anything with chocolate and peanut butter is my favorite!

I wanted to recreate buckeyes and make them healthier. I came up with this recipe:

Mix together Nuzest, 40 g of peanut butter, & coconut milk in a bowl. You can add more milk if needed, but the batter should be dry enough to roll into balls but wet enough to stick together. Next, roll batter into 7-8 balls. Place balls onto a plate. Next, melt the chocolate and coconut oil. Once melted, stir to combine. Top each ball with chocolate so that they are evenly coated. Drizzle more peanut butter on top of the chocolate. Place the balls in the freezer for 10-20 minutes or until the chocolate is hardened.

YUM!

These are the perfect, healthy treat or dessert. I like to store mine in the refrigerator for when I have a sweet tooth.

If you make the protein balls, please tag me @toriswholelife and #thesweetlife so I can easily see your creations!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Before I tell you the recipe, let me tell you there is only 4 ingredients. Here are the macros:

159 calories, 1 g fat, 8 g carbs, & 30 g protein

Now... the moment you all have been waiting for... THE RECIPE!

Ingredients:

50 g egg whites

1 scoop (30 g) of Quest Peanut Butter Protein Powder

60 g canned pumpkin puree

1/4 tsp baking powder

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together into a mug or small microwave safe bowl. Once combined, scoop about 1/4 c of the batter out and save it to use as a topping. Place the mug cake into the microwave & cook for 1 -1 1/2 minutes or until mug cake is set. Remove from the microwave & top with remaining batter!

Serves: 1

There you have it! A simple, easy, & macro friendly mug cake. I love to have this about an hour before bed because it helps keep me full throughout the night. You can experiment with different toppings if your macros allow for it (or if you are not counting macros). I would add things like PB, crushed up cereal, cinnamon, pecan pieces, ice cream, cream cheese, etc. Have fun with it!

If you do recreate the recipe, tag me @toriswholelife and use #thesweetlife so I can see your creations.

Avatar Nutrition Update:

If you have followed my journey, you know this is my 4th week counting macros with the help of Avatar Nutrition. I love the accountability and the community that comes with this service. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Avatar, its a macro coaching system that allows you to put in your info, goals, etc. and it adjusts your weekly macros based on your weekly weigh in.

Things I have noticed since starting:

1) I am more accountable for the food I am consuming.

2) The good habit and strict counting is really starting to sink in on week 4 (makes sense based on habit research)

3) I love creating macro friendly recipes

4) Watching Youtube videos and interacting with the Avatar Facebook community is so helpful!

5) I am starting to lose inches even if the scale isn't moving much

6) Even though I am in a moderate cutting phase, I still have so much strength and energy in the gym

7) I know that my macros are going to decrease over the next couple weeks, but BRING IT ON!

8) Create staple meals in Myfitnesspal or whatever app you use to count. This makes it easier to plan ahead. I have meals that I truly love eating, so I am always looking forward to eating.

9) Meal timing is everything when you are cutting macros!

I will keep updating you all! Hopefully I will post some progress photos soon. Also, my plan is to cut for another 4-8 weeks. Once my cut is over, I will begin a slow reverse diet phase with Avatar to increase my metabolism.

(I used Trader Joes Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips because they are lactose free, but you could also use Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips which are dairy free)

Directions:

**Place coconut milk can in the fridge overnight. The next day, remove and open the can. Use a spoon to scoop the coconut milk fat off the top. This is what you will use for these cookies. Save the actual milk portion for coffee or smoothies.**

In a bowl, combine all ingredients.

Mix until incorporated.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a baking sheet.

Scoop cookie dough onto the baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cookies start to golden on the tops.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

I have a fun recipe to share with you and guess what... it's lactose free:

PROTEIN CHEESECAKE

This is my fourth week counting macros with Avatar Nutrition and I am loving it. I love having the flexibility to add in some of my baked goods into my diet. Today I was craving some cheesecake, so I wanted to make a macro friendly version that also was lactose free. If you don't know already, I am lactose intolerant. I included the macros at the end of the recipe in case you are counting macros as well.

In a small bowl, stir together ingredients for the crust. Spray a small baking dish with oil. Scoop crust batter into the dish and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until the crust is cooked through.

While the crust is baking, start making the filling. In another bowl, combine all the filling ingredients. The batter should be on the thicker side, but if needed you can add a little more almond milk to your desired consistency.

Let the crust cool. Once the crust is cool, scoop the filling on to the top of the crust. Place the cheesecake in the freezer for 30 minutes or until firm. This will make the cheesecake easier to cut into pieces.